Los

I have a weird request. after Kohlenklau excellent Bulge mod for CMFI there was some talk of a winter mod for CMBN. I made a very detailed map for Wardin Belgium for the battle of Wardin (501st). I hate to see the man hours wasted. Can I give it to someone on the team doing QBs, maybe they can convert it to the new Bulge game and use it, I must have spent 25 hours on that map. Los

SNOW and early war

If you are expecting that the 13th guards rifle division itself be in RT, well that depends on whether one of their battles makes it into the scenario list. Otherwise it seems the TOE will be there to create actions by that or other guards units. Los

I am in as well...

Some defenders....

I know it's inappropriate to consider the PTO suitable for Combat Mission, :cool: but I'm having an interesting time trying to take Motoyama Number 2...Now as soon as those CMRT Flamethrowers get back ported to CMFI I can finish my Marines... Los

Wow I didn't realize CMGL was unplayable, didn't get the memo with all the gaming we're doing. I'm thinking of the french word for shower here....

I too am enjoying "Into Oblivion", lots of good detail as well as human interest. Makes me want to see courdoroy roads and makeshift bridge terrain types in CMRT.

Good info John!

Oh. Will there be female mortar platoon in the OB?

This is not something you would hand to a wide eyed private who's looking at his last few seconds on earth and ask him to do with a high chance of success, regardless of what they are showing at the Infantry school. It takes practice and wits to accomplish. The glass ampule Smoke grenades (BLENDKÖRPER) are a better bet. http://www.lonesentry.com/manuals/german-grenades/blendkorper-2h-glass-smoke-grenade.html And anyway when the hell did infantry smoke grenades start creeping into CM! (private joke for Steve)

If you want to fight like the Russians then you will need to role play a commander following Russian doctrine.... Los

"Who's coat is that jacket?"

However Close Air Support does not require Air Superiority, though it's certainly desirable. Even during major air battles such as over the Kursk salient, effective CAS and Interdiction from Stukas and bombers were being conducted (same for VVS too). According to many people the Stuka was done after the battle of Britain, though I guess someone forgot to tell the Stuka Geschwader that. Los

That's certainly one way...make Russian stuff cheaper to buy. I Don't know if that's the case.

The Russians were incurring massive casualties (by western standards) throughout the war: beginning, end, middle. Even in the period of Bagration they suffered massive losses...worth it of course, at least at this point of the war there was a better ROI for these casualties. So this was hardly a case of Wavell's 30,000 routing the whole Italian army with just a few casualties. It means that if anyone is expecting an easy time for the Russian of a CMRT quick battle where both sides just grab 3000 points and go at it, they might be rapidly disabused... Fortunately as the Russians were advancing and liberating territories, they were also conscripting replacements on the spot, this helps replace losses. I suppose it meant that there were always X amount of raw recruits in any unit that was being rebuilt after heavy losses. Most likely this limited tactical finesse as well, or at least shaped what they could accomplish with what they had to work with. Certainly the strength of one's NCO corps comes into play here. No doubt there was also this terrible hurry to get to the end before the western allies? Los

Well if you going to fart around Vietnam and Korea then what about WW2 pacific? But seriously...hopefully France 1940 and what not is in the mix....

It just goes to show it never hurts to ask, ESP if you have patience. Los

Ahh Ok so its more FPS movement control, but yes Vinnart am interested for the same reasons

Great news! A couple things I am particularly happy with: First person shooter view mode may equal a better Infantry Company commander or Platoon leader simulator. AI Triggers in Editor! Hopefully some of this will eventually leak back down into CMFI and CMBN. Nice work guys Los

I'd like to see this as well. I for one don't like having to break up squads in a team as a matter of standard procedure just to ensure they are spread out. I don't mind sometimes micromanaging things in specific situations, I don't want to do it as a standard procedure...especially since I prefer to play as a Company commander or bn commander. Los

This is what happens when you carry a few open buckets of gasoline into closet full of chain smokers... Los

0800 The grind continues. the battalion has reached its jump off point for the final phase which is the push onto Objectives Elm and Oak. A company had stopped the German push into the battalions left flank at least for now. B Company mopped up at the farm and C Company was engaged against Germans on the battalions right flank. D company was moving along the sunken road into position to attack Obj Elm. t Before they moved into the jump off they halted under cover and concealment form enemy observation while the commanders decided next steps. The battalion commander called a quick O group at the intersection 52/08 of the Company commanders. This would be a good vantage point to see the ground leading up to ELM. To pull this off we moved our HQ squads to this location then set a time for a teamspeak chat. Everyone was to have the game loaded and be at the position at ground level. (Our BC now has CMBN!)This was how I summarized our chat to the lads the next day in email: At a forward position, the B and D Company Majors are peering across the hedgerow at the ground ahead in preparation for the final push onto the battalions objective. The sound of a speeding bren carrier looms up behind them. Annoyed that someone would bring a vehicle to such an exposed position and call attention on the O-group, they stifle a barb, when they see Col Coggshall hobbling over, leaning heavily on his walking stick, a bloody bandage wrapped around his shin. "Sir you should get down!" Maj Makowsky shouts towards one of the medic," Cpl Hracor, have a look at the Colonel." "Gah...its nothing," the Colonel retorts. "There is no time that that. Now lets have a look...." (DIGRESSION: Somewhere along the way our BC's unit suffered a wounded man, either from a stray arty round or shrapnel from the tank that had been hit nearby. Nowhere is safe! Since only the week before I had been hit in the shin from a slap shot at hockey practice (I am the coach) which damn near broke it, I assessed this wound to the BC, which in game terms means, he can only get around on the battlefield by bren carrier.) Anyway... The three officers survey the ground ahead, 50 yards behind them, the lead elements of D Company are crouching in the sunken road, remaining out of sight. 50 meters ahead a lone squad from B Company are deployed along a final hedge that marks the limit of advance, beyond that perhaps 300m on at the most is the final objective. Battalion scouts are moving up, they will probe forward to determine the composition of enemy positions along the route of advance...an unenviable task. The three men discuss the particulars. Upon D Company, out of reserve and fresh, falls the most dangerous task. Attack Obj ELM. B Company, most worn down will move on Objective OAK find and seize the crossing there. This can most likely be accomplished with a platoon. C Company which has had the slowest going will mop up the bn right flank but also take its strongest platoon and form the bn reserve (one tank and pioneers attached) A Company will continue to screen the bn's left flank. Detach two tanks to D Company. Bn mortars to support the attack where needed, Brigade 4.2" Mortars in support of D Coy's attack. Attack to commence at 0800. Several small snags appeared during the movement: Of the two tanks detached from A company, despite careful route selection and smoke, only one accomplished the dangerous journey, the second shot out by an enemy Tank Destroyer or AT gun across the map Dead mans corner: We also had to get out FO over from where it had been supporting A Company's defense. Of course it's Bren carrier was shot too, so the lads had to hoof it on foot. This adds a small delay in bringing the 4.2" mortars to bear on ELM, though D Company's CO is directing fire on the objective from the bn 3" mortars. A single Sherman is up with the lead platoon of D Company which will advance along the road, it's already taking some small arms from the objectives. One of the squads to from the reserve from C Company was hit with fire from the pesky enemy on our right flank. At his point we feel every casualty! There appears to beat least the remnants of two enemy squads there. The tank on that flank is being pulled to support the attack so the C Company commander will sue one of his platoons to keep those Germans contained and out of our hair as we focus on the main objective. We don't want to waste too much on those guys. Major Barclay will leave a second of his platoons, (the weakest) at the farm to support B Company in case it gets in trouble and needs abase of fire to fall back upon. His third platoon will form the bn reserve for the final push on ELM, its his strongest platoon with a pioneer team and one tank. Only the BC can release the reserve. B Company is formed in a line oriented west towards OAK. THE commander figures he can get to the river and find that crossing in the form of an armed reconnaissance by one platoon with another supporting by fire. He will have to use his own platoon mortars for smoke,. all remaining indirect fire assets will support Delta. D Company at the Jump off point: Finally D Coy is in position, we don't want to wait too long as it makes a juicy artillery target (though, fortunately for us, the German indirect fire seems to have died down). They will advance two platoons up one back, one platoon along the road and one on its right along a field. This puts a few hedges between much of the German main line of resistance. Already bn mortars are fining on the objective though they are not quite on target. Two scout teams have already advanced 100 yards towards the objective, one along the field (hugging the hedges, one along the road. Best to make contact with the smallest element. Even though there has been fire traded with the objective from points along the jump off points, so far the scouts have picked their way along without being hit. We will try and put our FO in a good observation position to lay on a decent 4.2" barrage on the OBJ then attack the last 100 yards. We don't know how strong the forces are there and we have just under an hour to finish this last phase up. Advancing along the road: Los

Still there is some good footage, worth a watch and educational to see how they are viewing and teaching stuff. No doubt when they view western documentaries they roll their eyes at our claims, ESP when you get hyperbole like "d-day was the most momentous day of the war" or the Battle of the Bulge was the bloodiest battle, stuff you hear occasionally thrown around in documentaries and books... Los

Great Article! This reminds me of our current Tilly Coop battle. We are at the point where we've reached the final phase line before attacking our ultimate objective. But we have had to fight to get there and are pushing off into unknown territory. We have about an hour of game time left, it sounds like enough time, but we are trying not to get a single man killed that doesn't have too, just as if we were there ourselves. Rapidly but carefully we must patrol forward along routes we want to attack. We assume it's no surprise the enemy know where we are...lord knows we've made enough noise with our fighting. The BC has called an O group by the jump off point, While all the commanders proceed there for a palaver, recon teams and patrols have been dispatched along proposed attack routes to learn what they can. Information is the key to success here. Sometimes in combat mission with all these icons around and being able to climb up 300 feet in the air to look around its easy to get a false sense of confidence. There are times when one rushes forward to take advantage of enemy confusion...this is not one of those times. When teaching room clearing in a past life, sometimes guys would rush in before everyone was ready. I would warn them not to rush too much, that they had the rest of their life to clear that room! Well, my rifle company has the rest of its life to take this objective. Los